Journaling

So it likely comes as no surprise that my “thing” is storytelling. I have deep love for the story. I kind oframble on about it. My greater hope is to encourage others in the telling of their own stories along the way. And this month I’m happy to introduce a fresh way to have a play with telling your own story!

Just Press Play is a monthly challenge that is story-and-prompt centric. The spirit of this challenge is inviting and fun and encourages us to take a fresh look at how we are telling our stories. It’s where story meets creativity. And journaling meets fun. (more…)

As we are stepping ever closer to the launch in May I’m getting even more excited about Everyday Storyteller. Especially after seeing this fantastic little one-minute trailer for what kind of inspiration is in store from this incredible line-up of scrapbookers and storytellers:

It’s probably no secret that I am completely In Love with The Story. I get all kinds of ooey gooey for it. And one of my most favorite aspects of scrapbooking and storytelling is the documentation of the every day — the little details that when woven together create a beautiful tapestry that is the history and the narrative of our lives.

And so I am so completely honored and humbled and thrilled and grateful and excited (read: gooped up on the gop) to announce that I was asked to lend my voice to Everyday Storyteller — a new scrapbooking idea e-book featuring 33 practical ideas from real world scrapbookers, landing in May.

Discover practical, real-world approaches for scrapbooking with Everyday Storyteller, a new idea book arriving this May. Sign up for the VIP list to be the first to find out how your favorite memory keepers document everyday life.

Take a peek at the list of contributors {HERE}. Wow. Right? I’m feeling at once starstruck and so so excited to be among these inspirational scrapbookers as part of this fabulous project! You can see a wee peek of my contribution by clicking on the wee banner next to my name.

There will be more details to come as we get closer to {inter}National Scrapbooking Day and the launch of Everyday Storyteller. Don’t forget to Sign up for the VIP list to join the exclusive launch party on May 4 and be the first to hear the latest details.

So, I was just waxing poetically about my aspirations for documenting my own December this year and it’s that hope for embracing the moment, the details, the imperfections and the storyMaking that inspired the creation of this week’s fresh release: Pear Tree {the album}. It is a project that has been in the works for many days and weeks now and that the ever-so-considerate Sick derailed from my hoped-for timeline. But it’s here. And I’m really excited about it. And I hope that you’ll find it’s FULLness and it’s classic and versatile pieces a wonderful stand alone project or supplement to any December storytelling project you are embarking upon this year.

It was created with a heart for giving you options, for creating the kind of pages and/or album that fits the story you will create and document this year. It is a project full of possibilities and one that lets you embrace your own creative directions while getting to the heart of what matters most to you this time of year: the details. I really believe that magic lives in the details.

It’s BIG and it’s versatile. It’s full of pages of various sizes, from simple to more layer-y. All with the hope of helping you easily document your December.

This layered template album can be used in whole or in part, for digital or hybrid scrapping of your December stories. Includes templates in varied styles and sizes so you can pick your favorite size or mix and match to create a mixed media kind of album.

Every template design is unique while still carrying a cohesive look for an overall album and classic enough to be able to mesh well with any other projects. They are meant to be built upon with your own style and customization and can be used with any products. You can also re-use any of the design pages throughout the album, flipping and modifying to make them your own and to suit your scrapping or album needs and style.

You can mix and match the sizes with each other, you can mix and match the background paper pieces, the photo spot design layers, the overlays or trims here and there to make this album completely your own. Or you can use it in a straight-forward way too. Have fun playing with all the components to create what suits your story best!

The album contents include:

* 25 12×12 layered templates (in .psd + .tiff formats). These can be used as is or easily sized down to suit whatever album size you may be after (I’m going 8×8!)

* 15 6×8 layered templates (in .psd + .tiff formats). These can be used alone or as a supplement to the larger pages or any other pages you may be creating this holiday season.

* 10 5×7 layered templates (in .psd + .tiff formats). These too can be used alone as a mini album or as a supplement to the larger page sizes or any other pages you may be creating this holiday season.

The {December} installment is inspired by the holiday season and by the close of another year. We explore sentimental, silly and more traditional takes on documenting our stories of “reflection”, tradition, and holiday in encouraging journaling prompts.

As always I looove to see your stories and art too, so please feel free to share with me anytime. Really! Just shoot me a mail or share them on my facebook page. And if you haven’t signed up the newsletter yet you may want to do that so you can be the first to hear the latest news and get the latest exclusive savings.
Happy December! Happy Scrapping!!!

So it’s official: summer has arrived here in the desert Southwest…we’ve experienced our first “Severe Heat Advisory” warnings of the season which pretty much just means that the heat has evolved from Hot to Ridiculously Hot. It also means that we spend a lot of time indoors enjoying the blessing of air conditioning (ohhh how grateful I am) daydreaming about if it’s possible to actually fry an egg on the pavement or rapid rise a loaf of bread out on my patio.

But apart from that heat-addled brains kind of daydreaming, I find myself daydreaming about making pretty things and why I love scrapbooking so much. And it’s both of these…The Pretty and The Crafty…that have inspired this week’s {fresh seeds}. I’m so happy to share two — yay! — new releases to share this week.

Meet Larkspur. Larkspur is the latest in the “Full Bloom” series of templates are designed in the spirit of a “fuller” page, richer in layers with many little details and a little more depth. It’s been awhile since I’ve released a “full bloom” set, and I have to confess I have a soft spot for them. They are derived from some of my most favorite pages and they can really be so beautiful and well, full while still affording you room to “play” and modify the page to suit your personal scrapping sensibilities.

And here’s a bevvy of beautiful inspiration from the girls and the Pollys:

Annnnnd. We’re on the precipice of July (yes, seriously.) which means it’s time for the next installment of Grow With Love: Letters Edition with Crystal Livesay.

If you’re not familiar with the Letters Project, Grow With Love: Letters Edition is a fresh regular monthly feature in the Artisan Notebook for the year 2011. It is a series of templates and journaling prompts rooted in letter writing that we hope will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone a little bit, reflect on your relationships and loves, and love a little more deeply and truly. This is not only a scrap project. This is about changing yourself and your relationships for the better. Still, as ever, these templates can be used apart from the prompts to tell any story and scrap any page tailored to your own scrapping needs and style.

This month’s offering is rooted in our creativity and crafty and scrappy. It’s fun and happy!

And here’s a spot of inspiration:

Both new releases are available in my store at The Lilypad for 20% off through Sunday 26 June.

As always I looove to see your stories and art too, so please feel free to share with me anytime. Really! Just shoot me a mail or share them on my facebook page. And if you haven’t signed up the newsletter yet you may want to do that so you can be the first to hear the latest news and get the latest exclusive savings (and maybe a fun summer freebie soon and very soon!)

Also!!!!

Registration for Grow With Love: Staycation has begun! Staycation is a fun and relaxed and inspired summer adventure in storytelling. I encourage you to learn more about it {HERE} and listen to Crystal and I yabber about it in this fun post too. We so hope you’ll join us in this fun adventure!!!

I was so honored to be featured on The Daily Digi in April and if you missed the fabulous chance to grab Dandelion in the April Digi Files, you can now snag it in my shop at The Lilypad! I really loved working on this project and I created it with the hope that it would be the best representation of my personal scrapping and design style, so it had a little bit of everything in it: page design templates, {clipped} template masks for papers and photos, a handful of doodley {story seeds}, and a couple of story starting journaling prompts.

The Dandelion {templates} were designed in the spirit of wishing, hoping and the promise of beauty and joy found in the every day….with varied design styles ranging from a “fuller” page, richer in layers with many little details and a little more depth to cleaner and more linear designs.

As always I looove to see your stories and art too, so please feel free to share with me anytime. Really! Just shoot me a mail or share them on my facebook page. And if you haven’t signed up the newsletter yet you may want to do that so you can be the first to hear the latest news and get the latest exclusive savings.

Registration for Grow With Love: Staycation has begun. Staycation is a fun and relaxed and inspired summer adventure in storytelling. I encourage you to learn more about it {HERE} and keep your eyes peeled for a fun blog post from Crystal and I and a Q&A about the project!